Health workers ‘running away’ from Akwa Ibom hospital because of COVID-19

Health workers at the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital (UUTH) in Akwa Ibom State are said to be running away from their duty posts because of the novel coronavirus.

The UUTH is a leading tertiary health facility in the state.

The five confirmed cases of coronavirus in Akwa Ibom are said to be mostly healthcare professionals.

The health workers at the UUTH are claiming that they had contact with the confirmed cases in the state and therefore cannot report to duty, according to the hospital internal memo.

The memo was issued on Friday by the chairman, Medical Advisory Committee, Emmanuel Abudu, on behalf of the hospital’s chief medical director, to all heads of departments in the hospital.

Mr Abudu said in the memo that it is the duty of the hospital management to protect the hospital staff and ensure their safety, but that workers with genuine claim of having had contact with infected persons must submit themselves for “evaluation” at the UUTH. The outcome of the evaluation would determine the next action to be taken by the hospital management, the memo said.

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“By these directives, the Heads of Departments/Units must ensure compliance and inform erring staff to report to work as management will not hesitate to take stringent action upon failure to comply,” the memo said.

It is unclear for now if the Akwa Ibom government is aware of this development. The Commissioner for Health in the state, Dominic Ukpong, did not respond to calls and text message to his telephone line.